


Lamplight

by kiyong_ki



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: AU in which they live in a dungy city, Angst, M/M, i clearly have no idea what to tag, live kinda crappy lives, mentions of violence and bullying, might find happiness tho, stripping and mentions of prostitution, such a mess mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-10 23:38:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5605390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyong_ki/pseuds/kiyong_ki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeonghan has always been called beautiful and to regard his looks as a bless. However, life has its funny way of proving everybody wrong, the so called blessing has become more of a curse as it drove him into a permanent state of solitude and misery.<br/>Having lost all that was dear to him at a young age Jeonghan moves to a bit of a shady part of town where he forces himself into the life he thinks he deserves, however all changes when Seungcheol crosses path with him and becomes the only light in his gloomy life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Harbour Lights

**Author's Note:**

> first work i ever post, i apologize in advance for any for of typing/spelling/grammatical error that might appear...

One grows up hearing about beauty, he certainly did, ever since he was a child he was called handsome, beautiful, gorgeous, appealing... People would always tell him how lucky he was for his looks. They would tell him that the beautiful ones always have it easy, that life smiles at you when you’re pretty. He heard that year after year, day after day, and the only thing he could do in response was to smile and nod.

As a child he believed the virtue that was to have his looks and that it would bring him happiness. However it didn’t take much more than a decade for him to realise that what seems like a blessing can really be a curse. He had to endure years of mean looks. Envy was certainly a terrible thing. People couldn’t stand being next to him for he was always the spotlight, and soon enough he found himself always alone in a crowd. He had no friends in school or out of it. He would get pushed around and scowled at constantly. He was definitely miserable, yet, everyone still said he was so lucky to be so pretty.

And he still smiled and nodded at those words.

By the time he was fifteen his parents were taken away from his life by a terrible car accident that soon enough lead Jeonghan to hate something always also called beautiful, the snow that would stubbornly fall from the skies every winter. It had left him orphan, truly alone in a world full of people that would always look down on him for something he could not control. Oh how he hated beauty.

Now, at the age of twenty one he was still as alone as he could remember, even having wandered far away from a place he had once called home.

***

Jeonghan heaved out a heavy sigh as he leant into the metal bar, pressing it with pretty much all his body weight in order to get the door open.  The club was too crowded for him to try to leave by the front door, exhaustion and averseness to crowds taking the best of him. He squeezed through the narrow opening he had managed to push, the door was indeed heavy and he could just bet those hinges had not been oiled since the day they had been put there.

Once he found himself on the narrow alley right next to the club he took a deep breath, thankful that, for once, it wasn’t raining. He adjusted his jacket over his shoulders before thrusting a hand in the pocket of his skinny jeans to fish out his phone. It was an old model since he had never seen the point in having a fancy high tech thing when he literally had no one to call to. His phone was merely a clock, and at times, an alarm clock. The black numbers contrasted with the green lit screen as soon as he pressed the middle key.

 3:45 AM.

“I’m sure they won’t need me for fifteen more minutes,” he mumbled to himself, shoving the small phone back in his pocket and starting to walk down the dungy path onto a larger, brightly lit, main street. He kept his arms wrapped around himself, leather jackets really weren’t the best thing when it came to keeping one warm against cold night wind, however, the gesture was a bit of a habit by now. He never felt safe in those streets, it was impossible to.

Jeonghan tried to keep a steady pace to get home as soon as he could, although it was a bit difficult given his state and he would find himself nearly stumbling once or twice along the way. Some cars drove by him as he walked. People inside them always had the same tired expression. Jeonghan sometimes would find it amusing, how strangely similar everyone is when under circumstances. The human behaviour wasn’t too hard to figure out, no matter how much society tried to impose rules, humans would always act according to their basic instincts. That was what he thought anyway.

He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly heard voices not too far ahead from where he was. He immediately stopped walking forward, seeking shelter in the shadowy part of the sidewalk in between street lights. From where he stood he could see a bunch of guys gathered in a circle around something, Jeonghan could see the shadow of something voluptuous on the floor through the gaps between the men. The guys kept cheering loudly, laughing as well. Jeonghan recognized that sort of laughter better than anyone. It was the same the boys who would beat him up in his school days would laugh when doing so. He started chewing on his bottom lip, now realizing that the shadow on the floor was more than likely a person.

He didn’t know what to do.

He certainly couldn’t approach them. The only outcome of that action would be to have himself in the same situation as the victim he could now hear begging for mercy. He looked down at his pocket, calling the police would take far too long, and when it came to that hour and part of town it would be right down useless.

Jeonghan sighed. He could either wait for it to end, hoping the man’s life would be spared, or he could retrace his steps and get the hell away from there as fast as he could. Those were his only options and he hated them.

He turned away his gaze, looking at it would only increase the tightness he felt in his chest. Instead he kept seeking for a car, a truck, hell he would even try to stop a bike, maybe it could help the poor man begging for mercy in a now strangled voice. But, unfortunately for the man, there was not a soul on the road, and even though the whole situation was loud and that was a living area, nobody would open a window or a door.

It took a while, minutes according to Jeonghan’s phone, before one of the guys spoke up, making the entire scene come to an end. “Ok, ok, enough of this. We’ve had our fun. Let’s just go before somebody calls the cops.” The man broke into a loud cackle and started walking away, promptly followed by the others, leaving the man on the floor coughing and moaning in pain.

Jeonghan could only say he was thankful for the fact they wandered off with their backs turned to him, yet, he still waited for them to be completely out of sight before rushing out to help the man on the floor. He seemed to be on the verge of unconsciousness. Jeonghan kneeled next to him and gently rested a hand over the man’s shoulder. “Hey,” he called in a soft tone, “can you hear me?”

The man on the floor, a complete mess of cut open and already bruising spots, tried to open his eyes, giving up shortly after for his vision was still probably too blurry. “Please help me.” He croaked before bursting into a coughing fit.

“I intend to,” Jeonghan mumbled, helping the man onto his side so he wouldn’t choke on the blood he kept spitting. The man seemed to be as old as he was, he wasn’t too old looking, but didn’t look like a kid either, and giving the stench of alcohol in his breath he had to be of age. As he stopped coughing, Jeonghan brushed dark, sticky, strands away from the guy’s face. “Can you tell me your name?” He asked while he swiftly hooked an arm around the man’s shoulders and helped him sit up, biting down his lip as the man whined and winced at the movement.

“Seung-  ... Seungcheol.”  Jeonghan nodded in acknowledgement, pulling his arm away from him to take the phone from his pocket. The man definitely needed medical care. However a bloody hand limply rested on his wrist, making him look up at the man who shook his head. “Please don’t call anyone. Not the police, not an ambulance. Please help me.” He said with effort.

“There is only so much I can do, I’m not a doctor.” Jeonghan said, nevertheless lowering his phone and shoving it back on his pocket. He looked at the man again, he didn’t have any exposed fracture, at least that. For some inexplicable reason he always felt the need to help others, even in cases like these, he was willing to ignore the way everybody treated him, all for the sake of helping somebody. Altruism, something his mother had always praised. Jeonghan looked around again, not a soul to be seen, he truly had no other option than to bring Seungcheol over to his apartment. It wasn’t far from there anyway.

After explaining his plan to the wounded man he tried to help him up from the floor, also stating he was only so strong to be a crutch. Seungcheol had agreed to it, and with a lot of effort and groans of pain he managed to stand back on his feet, keeping an arm over Jeonghan’s shoulders as they slowly made their way over to the old building. Seungcheol trying his best not to whimper too much regardless of the jabs of pain he felt all over his body as he went up the stairs of it as he could hear Jeonghan mumble under his breath curses at the elevator that was out of order.


	2. Something To Believe In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok chapter two is up, thank you everyone that has been reading and leaving comments. The chapter is slightly shorter than i wanted it to be but-- busy times.  
> anyway, i hope you guys like it.

The apartment wasn’t big. It was basically a bed and a door that lead to a bathroom and then a tiny excuse of a kitchen against one of the four walls. For a moment Jeonghan nearly felt like apologizing for it, but then again, Seungcheol was far from being in condition of even minding where the hell he was. So Jeonghan simply settled him down on the edge of the mattress, letting go of the other’s body in order to search for his first aid kit and a bag of frozen peas which sat inside his miniscule freezer atop of the fridge. The peas were long over the expiration date, Jeonghan hardly ever cooked. But he ended up keeping them since they were a great ice pack.

He sat next to Seungcheol, who had flopped back on the mattress and gently pressed the bag of peas to the left side of the man’s face. Both sides were bruised, but the left one seemed more aggravating than the right one. Seungcheol emitted a subtle noise of relief when the cold touched his skin and proceeded to slowly make some of the pain fade. He blinked one eye open to look at the stranger that came to rescue him. He had never met somebody that would do this kind of gesture. He had serious doubts anybody capable of it still existed outside of a book. Needless to say he was more than happy to have been proven wrong by such twist of fate. “You didn’t tell me your name,” Seungcheol said in a voice that sounded too hoarse even to his own ears.

“Jeonghan,” the other said, starting to clean the wounds on Seungcheol face as gently as he could.

Seungcheol couldn’t keep himself from wincing at the sting caused by the alcohol against the still fresh wounds. However he settled for keeping his gaze on Jeonghan’s face, masked with a rather blank expression but nevertheless beautiful. It was strange however, his thin and sharp features when analysed one by one were nothing that out of the ordinary, but the whole made something rather pleasant to look at. “Thank you for helping me, Jeonghan.” Seungcheol mumbled after Jeonghan pulled the cotton ball – once pristine but now covered in dark red – away from his face.

“Don’t mention it.” Jeonghan frowned subtly “Why didn’t you let me call an ambulance?”

Seungcheol closed his eyes and adjusted the bag of frozen peas to it. “I’m afraid of Hospitals,” he said simply, letting his own hand rest on his chest. He slowly slid his fingers down his side, seeking for something more than plain muscle soreness from all the kicking and tossing around. “It sounds stupid, I know, but I hate them. Also I would get in trouble there, more than likely.”

Jeonghan’s frown intensified, to the point his eyebrows nearly touched. “That sounds like one hell of a shitty excuse if I ever heard one.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized and he quickly slapped a hand to his lips as if it would somehow cover the words. “Sorry,” he said slightly muffled, “I didn’t mean to come off as rude.”

Seungcheol scoffed, not daring to make any more than that in order to avoid all unnecessary pain. “It wasn’t rude. You speak your mind, that’s good.”

Jeonghan tucked a strand of his long hair to behind his ear, his shoulders rising and lowering when a sigh left him. “Not used to really have people hearing my mind though.” He looked down at Seungcheol’s hands. The knuckles had blood on them and seemed slightly swollen. He grabbed another cotton ball, soaked it in alcohol and proceeded to clean them, gently wrapping his hand in gauze after. “You either fought back for a while or you started it,” he said matter-of-factly, making the other one scoff yet again.

“In which of those options would you bet on?”

Jeonghan noticed the slightly smug smirk stretched on the other’s lips and rolled his eyes, “you started it.” He scoot over in bed a bit farther away from Seungcheol now that he was done completely with any visible wounds. It wasn’t for any other reason but the simple discomfort that was to be so close to someone. Which came off as slightly ironic taking into consideration his job, however it was easy to ignore that. Jeonghan hugged his knees close to his chest and rested his chin on top of them. It was strange how he had simply decided to bring a stranger - a shitstarter, no less – into his house and simply took care of him like a friend would, possibly.

He had helped strangers before. Picked the object they dropped and handed it back to them, spared some change to a homeless person even though he didn’t have much himself, always held the door open for others. Nothing had really reached this level, of course. He surely could’ve just ignored the other’s protest and called an ambulance, it would’ve been the wisest. But there was something about Seungcheol, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, that made him take this chance. That made him leave his comfort zone and get this close to someone else ignoring the possibility of being discarded later like many (if not all) people did with him.

“I’ll be out as soon as I get back on my feet,” Seungcheol said, snapping Jeonghan out of his thoughts and making Jeonghan turn his head towards him. Jeonghan didn’t really know what to answer so he merely nodded, letting the silence settle once again and the slight awkwardness fade out. “What were you doing out so late?” Seungcheol asked as kept his eyes closed even as he changed the side of the bag of peas to be pressed against his face.

Small talk. God freaking small talk. Jeonghan felt like laughing at it, the man had almost been beaten to a pulp and dragged into a stranger’s house but was making small talk just like kids do in awkward first days of school. “Walking,” Jeonghan said, running his fingers through his hair to brush it back.

“Oh wow that sounds so fascinating, please tell me more.” The sarcasm on Seungcheol’s voice was enough to pull a chuckle from Jeonghan. “You don’t socialise much do you?”

“I only socialise the necessary.”

Seungcheol opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Jeonghan. The bruising side of his face was slowly starting to swell up and Jeonghan found himself getting worried. “What kind of answer is that?”

“You tell me,” Jeonghan said, barely realising the smile creeping up on the corner of his own lips, mirroring the one on Seungcheol’s. Frankly enough he wasn’t sure how to keep a conversation going, especially given the circumstances. Seungcheol actually made him want to talk, but he found himself to be too out of practice. Out of practice for something that is supposed to come off naturally, peculiarly so. “I don’t really have many people to keep conversations going. Friends or such,” Jeonghan shrugged. It was a rather personal detail, but why not say it. For the hell of it at least. The man wasn’t going anywhere any time soon and Jeonghan surely couldn’t sleep with him in that room.

“You don’t have any friends?” Seungcheol blinked quickly. “Are you new in town? I mean I had never seen you before, and I have been in these streets for a while now. Also a face like yours is hard to forget”

Jeonghan shook his head. “I’m not that new in town, I’ve been here for quite a long time. I just don’t do well with people.”

“Well that sounds fucked up, pardon my language.” Jeonghan made a small wave of dismissal with his hand. Foul language was surely a thing that bothered him the least. Seungcheol tried to change his position to get a better look at the long haired one. “Tell you what. I’ll be your friend. I mean, I do owe you at least that much. You did save me from staying there on the floor in until some weird grandma or child called 911 to sweep away my, by then, cold dead body.” Seungcheol smiled brightly... well, as brightly as someone could with a busted lip and a face that made him look like a cartoon character by now. Something out of ‘ _Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends’_ if Jeonghan had to guess.

“Oh come on, you took quite a beating but you were not injured to the point of dying,” Jeonghan scoffed.

“I would die of infection? As in my wounds would pick up all the germs in that shitty street and I would die...” Seungcheol laughed. “Never mind that anyway. What do you think of my proposition? I promise you i’m a good friend, I can even drive you around and shit... if we happen to find a car we can borrow” He winked at Jeonghan making the latter burst into laughter.

Jeonghan took another long, analysing look, at Seungcheol. He was definitely some sort of trouble, however so was Jeonghan when putting things into other perspective. The man seemed honest about his intention however, and Jeonghan really hadn’t had a friend for a long as he remembered. Maybe it was good to have someone to talk to often, somebody he could at least rely for one favour – Seungcheol did say he owed him, Jeonghan would be sure to keep that in mind, for precaution maybe. Most importantly, Seungcheol didn’t seem bothered by Jeonghan’s good looks.

“Fine”

“Good choice, now, do you have anything to eat though? I’m kinda hungry. I swear I will pay you back later.”

***

As promised, Seungcheol did leave Jeonghan’s house as soon as he got back on his feet. However it had taken him two days to do such, and to Jeonghan a trip to the supermarket to get instant noodles, something to drink, and more bandages and ointments to apply to all of Seungcheol’s wounds.

The days spent in that mattress were enough for both to end up sharing each other’s stories. Turns out Seungcheol had been as blessed by luck and happiness as Jeonghan had. Seungcheol had never met his parents, having grown in an orphanage in a town similar to the one they both found themselves in. Like any sort of bad orphanage, the place kinda ran itself by survival of the fittest and young Seungcheol, never being picked by anyone for he always looked problematic, always bruised and with big sad eyes, he soon got to earn title of king of the place. Other kids feared him, and he was doomed to it till he reached the age of eighteen. Fear obviously leads to respect, but brings loneliness.

By the time he finally got out of the orphanage he decided to go far, as far as the little money in his pocket could take him to, which is where he was now. Job hadn’t been easy to find, at all. In the end he decided to start hanging with other low lives like himself, people feared but witty enough to get around with stuff. Selling drugs and doing occasional theft was easy enough and profitable enough.

He had even explained Jeonghan that the beating was all on his account because he had tried to trick some rival drug selling group, needless to say joke was on him.

Jeonghan had listened to all those stories attentively, finding them interesting, and more important than that, finding Seungcheol somebody easy to be around of.

They had exchanged phone numbers, not without a witty remark from Seungcheol in regard of Jeonghan’s phone first, before parting ways. Promising to keep in touch and to meet up once Seungcheol recovered.

It was definitely nice to finally have a person to talk to or just listen to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so what did you guys think?  
> i will probably post next one on monday night since sunday is kind of a busy day..


	3. This Stage Is Your Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm casually disregarding my responsibilities..  
> kinda wrote this to clear my head.  
> as usual, i hope you enjoy..

The days quickly passed by in a bit of a blur marked by a routine they were both too used to, the only thing that would differ was the occasional meet ups and conversations over the phone at the most farfetched hours. And before they got to be completely aware of it, two months had passed since they met and all the wounds and blemishes from that night were long gone from Seungcheol’s face.

“You know what I just realised?” Seungcheol asked, wrapping his lips around a blue straw to take a sip from his frappuccino. Jeonghan still couldn’t understand the other one’s love for cold coffee. In Jeonghan’s opinion the only decent way to drink coffee was with it close to scalding hot and sugar free. Seungcheol was the complete polar opposite.

Jeonghan had nodded at the other, in order to hint him to go on. “You never really told me what you do for a living. I mean, I told you right away what I did and you didn’t push me away right as soon as you got the chance. That lead me to think that you either are into the things I do, which doesn’t quite seem so. Or,” he paused to pull the straw from the cup, licking the remaining bits of iced coffee attached to the plastic object by means of whip cream, “you do something worse than I do.”

Silence settled for a short moment between the two as they held what seemed to be a staring competition before Jeonghan broke the silence: “What exactly do you think I do?”

His tone was serious but there was a certain glint of amusement in Jeonghan’s eyes which Seungcheol picked up on. “I don’t know, what is worse than going around selling drugs to people and possibly, more like definitely, ruin their lives...” Seungcheol hummed a bit in thought, drumming his fingers on the surface of the table. “Ok... I got nothing.”

Jeonghan took a sip of his coffee and smiled subtly.

“Are you seriously not gonna tell me?”

Jeonghan shook his head, “it’s not relevant.”

Seungcheol suddenly pouted. It was his ultimate weapon that would often get him out of trouble, especially when he was dealing with people with a soft spot for cute attitude, like he knew Jeonghan was. “You always say things about you are not relevant. Who made you judge of relevance anyway?”

The long haired one leant forward on the table towards Seungcheol, signalling him to do the same by doing a hooking motion with his index finger. “Fine, if you really have to know....” he whispered, and Seungcheol quickly leant in. Jeonghan burst into laughter as he quickly brought his hand to ruffle Seungcheol’s hair instead. “I’m not telling you.”

“Seriously?!” Cheol slumped back in his chair, fixing his hair and throwing a mocking glare at the other who decided to finish his coffee, still with an amused glint in his eyes. The topic soon got forgotten once Jeonghan started to poke Seungcheol’s cheek with his own straw, pretty much like kids would do. They would always end up acting like kids one way or another, and that was something Jeonghan was ever thankful for. Seungcheol would always bright up his day.

His job was an issue he avoided. It wasn’t a thing he got into by choice so he felt no point in giving it much thought. He had been given a chance, and given that at the time he truly needed money to survive, he found no other option but to do it. It was as simple as that. It was fairly obvious to guess what it was however, and he couldn’t avoid wondering if Seungcheol had not tried to guess it out of politeness or just because he would rather hear it from Jeonghan’s mouth.

People who cannot own pretty things would often choose to stare at them for as long as time and money would allow him to. Sometimes with enough money they could even touch the pretty things.

It was definitely a shitty job and a shitty routine.

Night after night he would go through the front door of the Club. He would face the other unlucky pretty ones who had the same void look in their eyes he would sometimes find reflected in the mirror. He would get dressed and slightly more presentable by means of makeup to then peel each layer of clothes for the eyes of men that would either resemble pigs or wolves - in his perspective at least-

It wasn’t an honourable work, quite frankly selling drugs seemed way better than being a stripper and sometimes boy toy to the highest bidder, even though he truly didn’t care most of the times. He had discarded his pride and ideals as soon as he had stepped onto that stage to the sound of something he couldn’t really call music, it was simply a mess of bass and occasional musical-like sounds. 

The job brought him money, which was all he could bother to care about it. End of story.

But for some reason he just couldn’t bring it up to Seungcheol.

Jeonghan allowed himself a wider smile as he glanced back at Seungcheol’s face. It was different. His face was of rough features, however, had a big contrasting element. Big eyes adorned by long eyelashes. Jeonghan had never seen anything other than a kind expression in them.  

Maybe that was why.

***

His shift started at around midnight, as it always did, and the place was already rather crowded by the time he pushed in the doors to quickly access the area they called “the backstage”. It was just a room with a mirror and a couple of chairs to sit or to let things rest as the night went on.

Jeonghan checked his phone once he had finished changing outfit. A small icon of an envelope blinked on the green-lit screen. It was a Message from Seungcheol and Jeonghan found himself smiling. He promptly pressed the main key to open the message.

‘ _Try to catch some sleep, you seemed to be spacing out more than usual today. Good night –Seungcheol_ ’

His smile widened. The message was nothing that special, but somehow made things around him seem less shitty. Until his boss walked in and told him that he that been requested for a private session at least. It was all it took to eclipse the entire brightness of his day.

“They asked for me specifically?” Jeonghan asked in a bit of a mumble, trying to suppress a whine with all his might.

“You’re the only guy with long hair in here so, yeah, I guess that really was a specific request. Don’t forget to smile though... or at least smirk. People seem to like it,” his boss shrugged. “Anyway, be there in ten minutes. Also... The dude seemed to be one of those young men who piss money for a living without doing shit, so maybe it won’t be so bad for you in the end.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes, “says the man who never had to deal with any special orders.”

“What can I say, I was never pretty enough for the task.”

Jeonghan couldn’t exactly blame the man. He was actually nice, considering his job. He always made sure his ‘employees’ were out of trouble and not in any danger – at least inside the club. He had once been a boy in the stage, one who got too old for it apparently, and decided to stick by to do management business until he got to run the entire place singlehandedly.

Yet he couldn’t stall any longer. He had to go and face the music. After all, it was just another night, another stage... another creep. So, step by step Jeonghan dragged himself to one of the few rooms a bit further to the back of the club.

He could actually say he was getting used to them by now. The velvet sofas and the dim red light, there really wasn’t much to it other than that. He pushed the door open and slid inside the small 4-walled confinement. The man sitting on the sofa, with both arms over the back of the sofa, definitely seemed young, Jeonghan would bet they were the same age if he could. His boss was certainly right, the man was possibly pissing money - Jeonghan could see as much just by glancing at the expensively tailored suit, silver watch and polished shoes the guy was wearing.

Jeonghan only wanted to question what in the world could a guy of that kind be doing in a place like that.  “You requested me,” he said instead.

The man on the sofa nodded and smiled, making his eyes squint into two perfect crescents, without a doubt a charming eye smile. “I have been keeping my eye on you,” he said in a really casual tone, as if he was just commenting how green the grass was. “Your figure is breathtaking, has anyone ever told you that?” He lifted a hand from the back of the sofa and slowly gestured for Jeonghan to approach him.

Jeonghan did as requested, standing in front of the man, between his legs. He reached for his tie and started playing with the fabric between his fingers – silk, of course. “I believe I have heard it before, never in those terms though, usually we get more of a vulgar crowd around here.” He slowly rolled the tie around his hand, lowering himself closer to the man’s face. “Should I really take your breath away though?” he whispered despite having cringed internally at his own words. That was a bad line, even for a shy stripper.

The man rested his hands on Jeonghan’s hips, pulling him to straddle his lap. “Please do. Also, it is up to you to set the price.” Oh how Jeonghan loved rich people and their love for pretty things at times.

Jeonghan reached for the switch on the wall and music started coming out of a speaker on a corner, once again that sort of generic electro beat that he can easily block out while moving his hips in tempo into the man with an expensive suit. He kept the movements to a minimum for a bit however, focusing on teasing and swiftly getting his way around both his own and the man’s clothes first.

Once his shirt was gone he felt lips press onto the side of his neck and then sliding down to his shoulder. The sensation felt nice, Jeonghan would be lying if he said otherwise. He felt slight chills run down his spine and let his hands slide down the other’s back, his hips still going with the rhythm of the song playing. Jeonghan let his eyes close once the man started getting too handsy – it was easier that way – it was easier to block the whole situation out and just imagine it was someone else.

For some reason he found himself imagining it was Seungcheol’s hands on his body and Seungcheol’s lips leaving small marks on his pale skin.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yup that was it, for today at least. I kinda typed that with my face on the screen so sorry for any mistake and stuff...  
>  anyway, thank you for reading. new chapter will be up tomorrow  
> ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


	4. Driven By Their Beating Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was supposed to have posted this yesterday but something came up..

“You look like you didn’t get much sleep,” Seungcheol let himself slump down next to Jeonghan on the park bench, immediately grabbing the frappuccino the other was holding. “The hell did you do last night? Remodel your apartment?”

He took a sip of the cold beverage, frowning at the sight of the other one. Jeonghan usually dressed in a way Seungcheol considered fancy and rather chic so the sweatpants and oversized sweater were certainly a shock, not to mention the dark circles under the other’s eyes. Seungcheol reached over to poke Jeonghan’s cheek since the latter seemed to be ignoring him but Jeonghan simply recoiled at the touch, leaving the other extremely confused and concerned. “Are you alright?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to- huh- I just had a bad night sleep. Neighbours were up all night being loud,” Jeonghan mumbled, rubbing his face after a sigh. The dark haired one nodded, not buying the other’s excuse, but he knew that trying to pressure it would only lead to Jeonghan probably getting up and leaving.

“I see,” Seungcheol nodded and Jeonghan lowered his head before sighing again – needless to be said, Jeonghan sighing was a habit Seungcheol was definitely more than used to by now – but that was when he noticed it. Peeking from a little bit above the collar of the other’s grey sweater was a small bruise. A hickey really. Seungcheol frowned, “are you sure it were the neighbours being loud?”

“What are you imply—“Jeonghan let his words die once he noticed where the other’s gaze was stuck on. He adjusted his sweater and coughed to clear his throat. “Yes, I am sure.”  

“You didn’t tell me you were seeing someone.”

“That’s because I’m not.”

Seungcheol arched an eyebrow quizzically, “I never took you for a one-night stand sort of guy.”

Jeonghan shook his head and exhaled, sounding a bit exasperated, “that’s because i’m not one.”

 The tone on the long haired one’s voice was enough to make Seungcheol drop the subject, regardless of remaining curious about it. He could actually come to admit he felt slightly bothered by that hickey, he didn’t know why, but he didn’t like the thought of someone else touching Jeonghan. It was a silly thought since the two were just friends and Jeonghan was always reserved about his personal life, but Seungcheol couldn’t help it.

“Whatever,” Seungcheol shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee. “Thank you for the coffee by the way, I really was in need of one, which reminds me...” he paused for a brief moment, “I have to attend this stupid party by request of a friend, i’m pretty sure you can figure out why I was invited but- do want to come with me? I don’t really like those parties but they’re good for business.” Seungcheol shrugged in an attempt of seeming casual when he was in fact dying for Jeonghan to accept his proposition.

The parties were really a pain up his ass, especially because after an hour all the girls in the place would turn excessively clingy, drunk and always attempting to get all over him.

Jeonghan hummed a bit, seeming to think about it before finally nodding. “Well I have the weekend off so why not.”

***

“Seungcheol, you’ve made it here!” A loud voice greeted them as soon as they made their way into a definitely too crowded house. “Wonwoo started a running bet whether you would stop by or not,” Jeonghan saw the taller guy pat Seungcheol on the back before turning to him looking intrigued. “Hi there, you must be Seungcheol’s friend. I’m Mingyu, nice to meet you.”

Jeonghan made a slight bow in acknowledgement, “Jeonghan, nice meeting you too.”

Mingyu exchanged a look with Seungcheol to which the short one responded by shoving him away mockingly. Jeonghan could only suspect the two had some sort of inner joke and he felt a slight stab of jealousy that was quickly discarded as soon as Mingyu told them where the drinks were. The main reason why Jeonghan had accepted the invitation had been the prospect of getting drunk, after all his mind was certainly too troubled to have him left alone for a weekend, sober, stuck in his house.

He felt Seungcheol pat him in the shoulder, “I’m getting a beer, do you want something?”

Jeonghan nodded, “a beer would be fine, thanks.” He saw Seungcheol wander off to get the beers, leaving him standing against a wall by himself. He quickly swept the area with his gaze. The people were around his age mostly, give or take a year, and they danced around to some upbeat song he kept hearing playing everywhere he went to lately and they seemed to be having fun. He could admit to be ashamed of the fact that party was the first one he had been in since probably some random kid’s birthday party when he was a child and forced to go to by his mother.

He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled a bit to himself as he saw Seungcheol struggle to get away from a few younger girls that were already tipsy – or at least acting like such. Once the other joined him he reached for the beer, promptly taking a long swig of it. “How often do you come to these parties?” He asked, being genuinely curious. Seungcheol looked so unfazed by everything happening around him that it was almost comical.

Seungcheol scoffed, “dude half of these guys are college freshmen and up. Add that to the fact I sell weed to 90% of them and you may be able to figure out an answer. I’m VIP to all the parties these guys make, and trust me when I say college people celebrate everything, specially the richer kids.”

Jeonghan nodded. “Must be fun,” he said before downing the rest of his beer, only to find Seungcheol staring at him wide eyed once he lowered the bottle.

“Well damn that last exam must’ve been tough on you huh?” Seungcheol laughed at his own joke. “Seriously, you might wanna take it slow, in a bit they will whip out the drinking games, a bit childish, I know. But the games are usually fuelled by stronger drinks which is the fun part.”

It only hit Jeonghan that Seungcheol had never really seen him drink before. He nodded and smiled widely, “don’t worry about me Cheol, I’ll be fine.”

Soon enough they were joined by Mingyu and two other guys, a shorter one that introduced himself as Woozi and one with a bored expression that introduced himself as Wonwoo. Jeonghan remained in the circle by Seungcheol’s side, taking sips of the beers that were always offered or placed on his hand as the guys talked and joked about the college life and some other experiences related to the last parties. Jeonghan listened to the stories, occasionally laughing and feeling as an obvious plus one but glad that so far nobody had decided to go on complimenting him or trying to hit on him.

He did not join the drinking games, as they were all basically of truth or dare and he was as reluctant to give away details of his life when tipsy as he was sober. He excused himself to go find a bathroom, Wonwoo had slurred it was on the second floor on the right but obviously there were several doors on the right of the second floor, it was a fraternity house after all.

Jeonghan figured he would have to just go around trying to find it and hope not to find people humping around. He tried the knobs of the first to the third doors, all locked, only the forth wasn’t and he turned it to open the door. It was a room and it had a person inside it.

“Oh shit, sorry,” Jeonghan mumbled in a rush, pulling the door closed before he realised he might as well ask where the bathroom was, so he opened the door again and asked. The room wasn’t too well lit so he really couldn’t see the face of the person inside, and the alcohol wasn’t helping either, but when the person said which was the door to the bathroom he realised that he had heard that voice before. Deciding to rest it as another effect of the alcohol running in his veins by then he closed the door and made his way over to the bathroom.

Turns out it was on the left side ad not on the right, and Wonwoo was probably drunker than he claimed he was.

When Jeonghan left the bathroom he was surprised by a person leaning against the wall. “So it _is_ you,” the guy said, flashing an innocent smile. “For a second I thought I was hallucinating or something.”

Jeonghan felt his blood freeze in his veins and decided he definitely wasn’t drunk enough to put up with this sort of situation. Standing in front of him was the guy from the previous night, the mainly difference was that he was simply wearing a button up shirt with dark jeans instead of a tailored suit, but he still kept the up to the side hairdo. “Oh fuck me-” Jeonghan mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. Trust his bad luck to kick in at the most inconvenient times.

The guy chuckled, “I think I already did that.”

It took all Jeonghan’s will not to aim a punch at the other’s sharp jawline. “Oh look at that, joke of the year, ha ha.” The sarcasm was his only possible weapon for now, after all he did get a big amount of money from the previous night and it would be really uncalled for to simply attack a guy who was doing nothing to him. “Look can we not really talk? I was invited here and I just want to try to have a good time and—”

The other guy cut in. “You mean to tell me you didn’t have a good time last night?”

Jeonghan took a deep breath. “Tell you what, how about you pretend you didn’t see me so I can go downstairs to get my jacket and just get the fuck away from here.” It wasn’t usual for him to swear this much, however panic had seeped into every fibre of his being. “No hard feelings though, I just really don’t mix work with...well... life.”

The guy nodded. “Sure. But I still want a response to what I told you yesterday.” He walked closer to Jeonghan and reached for his pocket, taking out the old phone that made him chuckle once again. “I didn’t even know these still worked nowadays. Look, I will add my number in this, I expect an answer by Monday,” he started pressing the digits as he spoke, saving the number under the name ‘Joshua’. “Now how about you go back downstairs and just have fun?” He put the phone in Jeonghan’s hands and smiled wider, “don’t worry about me going there, I never show up at the frat parties, taking a masters in business doesn’t really spare me much time for this nonsense.”

“I didn’t ask,” Jeonghan snarled, thrusting his phone back in his pocket before turning his back on the guy and walk back downstairs where the party had gathered in a big circle of laughter and loud chatter as an empty bottle of whiskey spun among them. Jeonghan looked for Seungcheol, feeling the air in the room too hot against his skin – or maybe it was him who was heating up. Once he locked eyes with the other he gestured towards the open glass door that lead to the garden and made his way over outside.

“Jeonghan, are you alright?” Seungcheol asked after closing the glass door behind him. “You took a while upstairs I was about to go check up on you.”

“Yeah, pretty freaking peachy, what does it look like...” he snapped, sitting down on the grass and breathing through his mouth. Panic crisis sure were a bitch. “Sorry, I just got lost and ran into a person.”

Seungcheol kneeled down next to him and gently rubbed his back. “You ran into a person? Did the person hurt you or something? Did you happen to know the person?”

“Yes, no and yes. In respective order, but i’m alright though... or will be, just needed some fresh air.” He closed his eyes for a bit, thankful for the soothing motion on his back. It was probably stupid but he felt the phone in his pocket heavier than ever, perhaps due to the eminent responsibility he know had towards the crappy device. “Do you know a guy named Joshua?”

“Joshua? Oh yeah, dude is stupid rich and kinda in charge of this fraternity house. I’ve talked to him once or twice, he seems nice although he never bought anything from me, son of a bitch” Seungcheol laughed after the last part and dropped his hand from Jeonghan’s back. “But why? Was he the guy you ran into? Do you know him?”

“No,” Jeonghan lied, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, “I just saw his name and wondered about who he was.”

“Girls around here nearly lose their panties at the mention of his name, but rumour has it he is gay.”

 _Yeah, you’re telling me that._ Jeonghan thought as he slowly brought himself back to his feet, feeling the panic decreasing and the cold increasing. “Let’s go back inside, I feel like I need another drink.”

Seungcheol remained on the grass, looking up at the other. “Are you sure you’re alright though? If you’re not well we can just go.”

Jeonghan shook his head and extended his hand to help Seungcheol up. “I’m fine really, let’s just go back inside,” he showed a reassuring smile, “i’m afraid I pulled you from a game you would possibly win.”

Seungcheol laughed and wrapped an arm around Jeonghan’s shoulders, “one of these days I will have you playing ‘never have I ever’ with me and then we will see who wins.”

 

The game went on for a long while and Jeonghan kept watching it from one of the sofas that had been pushed against the wall. It was amusing to a certain extent, everybody was pretty much wasted and saying things that made no sense and everything happened, from a girl passing out in the middle of the game to a guy suddenly bursting into tears and running away. It was really chaotic but Jeonghan would occasionally meet Seungcheol’s gaze and both would end up smiling.

However Jeonghan kept downing drink after drink, mostly to try to drown away the impending decision making on Monday, and by the time the party was over Jeonghan couldn’t feel the floor. He was pretty sure that if he had to type something onto his prehistoric phone it would come out a complete mess but the light headedness was a blessing in its own way.

Seungcheol approached him once people started leaving, a digital clock on a far off wall marked four thirty in the morning. “Holy shit, how much did you drink?” Seungcheol had asked as he put Jeonghan’s jacket over his shoulders and his arm as well. “Come on drunksy, I’ll take you home, I doubt you can really walk a straight line like this.” Jeonghan slurred a ‘thank you’ and proceeded to walk alongside the other with his head hanging a bit to Seungcheol’s shoulder, the warmth provided by Seungcheol’s proximity nice and comforting, making Jeonghan feel better than he had in a while.

“You know...” Seungcheol mumbled after a long silent while, as they were arriving to the street where Jeonghan’s apartment was. He gently squeezed Jeonghan’s shoulder just to make sure he would listen, “I can always tell when you’re lying and lately you have been lying a lot. Don’t you trust me?”

Jeonghan raised his head and stopped walking, making Seungcheol stop as well. “I trust you,” he said looking Seungcheol in those big worried eyes. It kinda broke his heart, the other really always wanted to help and Jeonghan was positive he wouldn’t be judged or abandoned after all this time. Yet there was always that blockage. “I trust you and I hate lying to you, but there are things I prefer to keep from you.”

“Jeonghan... whatever it is I can help, or will try to. What did Joshua do to you?”

“Nothing”

“Jeonghan stop lying. What did he do to you? How do you know him?”

Seungcheol seemed determined to figure this one out, but Jeonghan surely couldn’t bring himself to tell him that Joshua had proposed Jeonghan to be his. It was as simple as that. Joshua would pay him, as much as Jeonghan wanted, for Jeonghan to go around as Joshua’s property. The little rich boy wanted the pretty thing for himself, that’s was the only way to put it. And Jeonghan had till Monday to say if he accepted or if he was ready to be persuaded to say yes.

There was no way he could say this to Seungcheol.

“Jeonghan answer me,” the other persisted.

“Why is it so important? Why do you need to know? Whatever it is that makes me lie to you is something you can’t help me with. You can’t help me ok?” Jeonghan bit down his lip, lowering his gaze to the floor, hoping Seungcheol would just drop the subject or change it like he did every time.

Seungcheol took a deep breath. “Jeonghan I care for you, a lot. Shit, I-”he reached out to tip Jeonghan’s chin up. “I like you ok? And I really just want to help you. You always talk about how nobody ever treated you how you should be treated and how you had no friends, I know it hasn’t been that long and that may still make you unsure of it, but I promise you I would never do any of those things to you. I promise I am always genuinely here for you.”

Jeonghan simply stared at him for a long silent while. He truly believed him. “Words don’t come easily when I need them,” Jeonghan mumbled.

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, “the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“This,” Jeonghan said in a rush before pulling Seungcheol in and pressing his lips against the other’s plump ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah... that finally happened  
> i would like to clear out i do feel kinda bad for having picked joshua to be that sort of character, but idk, i kinda have a thing for seeing joshua as a mischievous child.  
> also.. all the titles of this fic's chapters are names of songs- just in case anybody wondered...  
> anyway i hoped you like and i will update next chapter asap


	5. Sleeping Pills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wrote this half asleep.. heads up to random errors and stuff

Early morning hit him like a rock on the head. Granted it always did once the sunlight went through that one broken spot on the blinds that always lead to his pillow. Jeonghan frowned, he was usually careful enough to cover said spot to avoid this sort of situation.

A slight groan slipped passed his lips once he turned in bed, shutting his eyes tighter in a vain attempt of keeping the light away, however the slight movement made him aware of how terribly sore his body was – slight stings of pain here and there, mostly on his thighs and hip area – and a bigger realisation that there was something big, warm and heavy next to him in bed.

He nearly jolted up a mile when his arm grazed against skin.

He slowly started to blink his eyes open, doing his best not to flinch at the stab caused by the light on a hangovered brain. It was his room alright. And that was a person next to him. And he was naked. And by the looks of it... so was the one next to him.

_Well_... _Fuck_.

Jeonghan slapped a hand to his face and whined softly. Trust him to be the sort of wipe-out drunk. He couldn’t remember shit from the previous night. He slowly turned to look at the sleeping person next to him nearly bursting into laughter as he found Seungcheol with his face completely buried in the pillow. For a second he wondered how the other could breathe like that - that was if he was breathing at all. He leant closer and pushed Seungcheol’s shoulder gently making him emit a light protest like a kid who doesn’t want to get out of bed, before he turned to sleep on his side. All was well.

Jeonghan sat up, knowing perfectly well there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, he was never known for being a deep sleeper anyway. As a kid he would always wake up early for not reason even after staying up way beyond bed-time. He slowly assessed the situation. Clothes were scattered all over the floor and the stinging he had felt earlier matched bruised spots scattered around his skin. He had a few faint ones on his wrists also, the sight of them slowly bringing back a blurry memory of having been pinned against the mattress with his arms secured over his head.

He couldn’t bite back the smirk that grew on his lips as he glanced at the one sleeping. “Who’d have thought you would be this rowdy,” he mumbled, shaking his head.

With the intention of getting up he rolled to the side, maybe there was some sort of thing he can nibble on while waiting for Seungcheol, who was now snoring, to wake up. It would probably be a useless search, Jeonghan was well aware he had not gone shopping in days. As he was about to sit up his phone started ringing. His phone because there was no way Seungcheol’s latest high-tech Smartphone would have a polyphonic ring.

His phone was ringing and that could only mean one thing.

He reached over to the small device that was not too far from his side of the bed, stuffed in the pockets of his pants. He exhaled slowly before pressing ‘pick up’ already ready to hear Joshua’s always cheerful tone.

“Good morning, just checking if you made it home safe.”

“You could have just texted.”

On the other side of the line Joshua scoffed. Jeonghan could just picture him, in a nicely ironed shirt and expensive pants. Probably smiling in that way that made his eyes narrow a little bit and that made everybody feel drawn towards him. “Not a morning person, are you? That’s just adorable. But you really seemed weird last night, got me worried.”

“How kind of you,” Jeonghan’s tone sounded snappish even to his own ears, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t sure if Joshua was really worried about his well-being or just concerned that the new shiny new thing he wanted to acquire was getting damaged in some way.  For some reason the latter seemed most likely to be the correct option. “Well, I’m great, still alive and breathing as you can confirm. Do you need anything else?”

“As a matter of fact... I do,” Joshua chirped happily, annoyingly so. Joshua sounded so casual and that disturbed Jeonghan to no end. “Ever thought of dyeing your hair?”

The question was everything but what Jeonghan could’ve expected. He tried his best to put his brain to work in some reply that did not imply some sort of profanity, although his effort wasn’t much. “My hair? You’re calling me to ask me stupid shit about my hair?” It was as polite as he could at that hour in those conditions. He had actually thought of it, in fact he had dyed his hair before, on a spur of the moment sort of move.

“Yeah, I think you would look great with red hair. Ever thought of it?”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes “Constantly,” he mumbled sarcastically to then rub his forehead with his free hand. He glanced to the side just to check if Seungcheol was still asleep, he was being careful enough to speak in a low tone just in case. Luckily Seungcheol seemed to be quite the heavy sleeper. “Joshua what exactly is the intent of this phonecall? If it is just to make smalltalk please don’t.  There really isn’t any point in it ok? I said I would talk to you on Monday, so, for now please leave me alone.”

He could hear a sharp intake of a breath on the other side of the line. “Please try to see my side Jeonghan. I really want to get to know you, I know we met under strange circumstances but... please trust me, I’m not a bad guy, I really am not. I’m just-“Joshua paused and Jeonghan could hear some ushered voices and some shuffling noise. When Joshua spoke again his tone was lower, “Sorry. Can I just ask for you to meet up with me on Monday? I would rather if you give me the answer in person.”

The only reply was a short hum. It wasn’t exactly a confirmation, but it wasn’t an opposition either. Jeonghan just didn’t know what to do. Joshua made him feel terribly disturbed in every sense, he couldn’t trust his smile nor his claim of honesty. “Monday,” he said, letting his eyes close just waiting – hoping rather – that Joshua would get the cue to terminate the call.

“Monday,” the other said back. “I’ll leave you alone then.” Jeonghan let his phone drop from his hand straight onto the floor, it wasn’t like the gesture would cause any sort of damage to it anyway.

Unnerving was the right way to put the entire situation. Joshua’s obsession was certainly not gonna end once Jeonghan declined the offer on Monday. That thought alone scared him. He had no way out of this try as he might, he was sure the other would try to persuade him at any cost. Joshua had the upper hand in this, he had the money and Jeonghan was well aware of the debts he had to pay yet, Joshua would certainly use that as a most effective argument.

He started chewing his lip before reaching out to gently shake Seungcheol awake.

If anybody could provide him clarity of thought, it would certainly be the only person that would miss him in case he went missing. Coincidentally also the only person Jeonghan could ever admit to miss.

“Seungcheol, I need to talk to you,” he said, still shaking the other by the shoulder.

Seungcheol merely groaned, again, like a stubborn child. Seeing no really other option Jeonghan slapped him on the arm until he finally sat up rubbing his eyes mumbling things like ‘i’m awake i’m awake’. Seungcheol yawned before sitting in silence for a moment, seemingly to be adapting to the light and the entire room surrounding him. Clearly Seungcheol wasn’t used to waking up early, Jeonghan noticed. “Good morning,” the long haired mumbled, reaching out to poke Seungcheol’s side.

“Morning...” he slurred in response before flopping back in bed, keeping his eyes stuck on Jeonghan’s face. “You seem upset.”

“I’m in some biggass sort of situation and I think only you can help me.”

“Oh so now you are finally ready to speak the truth now? Damn, if I had known sleeping you was all it took I would’ve definitely tried it sooner.” Seungcheol snorted as Jeonghan shot him a glare. “Sorry, don’t hit me, it was a terrible attempt of a joke I know. My brain is still waking up.”

“I’d have probably laughed if I weren’t so concerned.”

“Is it about Joshua?” Seungcheol took hold of Jeonghan’s hand, slowly thumbing at the back of it in a small gesture of comfort. Jeonghan nodded before heaving a sigh. Exposing the entire situation out loud seemed like a puzzle slightly more difficult that it had to be.

“Here’s the thing... I work at this sort of club in which I huh...”

“You’re a stripper aren’t you? Don’t get me wrong or anything but you move your hips way too well for a regular shy guy,” Seungcheol smiled cheekily at the slight shocked way Jeonghan’s eyes widened. “Sorry, keep going.”

“Yes I’m... a stripper, but occasionally something else related to it- I believe you can assume what – when somebody pays well enough.” Jeonghan tried to swallow, feeling like he had something like a baseball stuck in his throat as he spoke. It was shame, he guessed. “Anyway, Joshua was there a few night ago and basically said he had been keeping his eye on me. He decided to pretty much shower me in money and then proposed that I would just give up the entire club and life I had prior to go stay with him as his.”

Seungcheol frowned, never letting go of Jeonghan’s hand. “People actually do that? Did the dude just get there with a piece of paper like ‘Hey sign this and be my little shiny new toy” sort of thing? Just when I thought rich boys couldn’t get any weirder, damn.” His tone was of slight mockery, but the worried expression in his eyes was what Jeonghan focused more on. “You’re not gonna accept it, are you?”

“He gave me a few days to think about it, and I’m pretty sure he will not take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Seungcheol could only stare in silence. It surely was quite a dose of information, but at least Jeonghan had decided to talk. He had seen Joshua around whenever he visited Wonwoo and Mingyu, the guy had always seemed harmless, but then again nobody would take him for a drug dealer so he really shouldn’t take appearances as guarantee. As far as he knew Joshua could simply be trying to pull off some really twisted thing out of a weird movie because he was bored and he could. “You really can’t leave? We could just get away together you know.”

Jeonghan found himself smiling at the mention of a ‘we’. “I have things that keep me chained here. I mean... nobody takes stripping just for fun. Well, I didn’t at least.”

“Debts?” Seungcheol quirked an eyebrow.

“I once kinda had this weird dream about enrolling musical career. Music lessons and instruments are too expensive and so is paying for a destroyed music room—it wasn’t me though. Just got caught wrong place wrong time. I was set up.” Jeonghan laughed at the other’s expression. “What? I was finally getting kind of good at something and that got me bad sort of attention, it didn’t take long enough for someone to simply plot my downfall. I got kicked out, away from their spotlight and I even got this biggass bill to pay. Their plan worked.” Jeonghan used his free hand to tuck a strand of his bangs behind his ear, “also, how do you expect to run away when we have nowhere to go and nothing to get us far enough?”

“You really have a natural talent to get yourself into trouble don’t you?” Jeonghan nodded at the question and Seungcheol gave his hand a light squeeze. “Well, I’m glad you finally told me. How much is there left to pay?”

“A big bit... I get paid well but I do have other stupid things to pay like this shitty house and other things.” he shrugged.

“Well then... You need the money, Joshua has the money and won’t take no for an answer.”

“But I don’t want to be his bitch or his toy. I don’t want to do this.”

“I don’t want you to do it either so I will find a way of getting around this ok?” Seungcheol let his hand slowly trail up Jeonghan’s arm to the back of his neck, massaging it in a gentle manner. “Trust me, I will figure out a way of getting you out of this mess.”

Jeonghan found himself relaxing at the massage on the back of his neck and at Seungcheol’s words. “I trust you,” he mumbled back, and before he knew he was being pulled to lay on top of Seungcheol. It was odd how easy it was, letting Seungcheol take over control of his future, but it felt right enough. Seungcheol had become his guiding light, in more ways the one, even though he had kept trying to shut out that possibility, he kept bring drawn towards Seungcheol like moth to a flame and somehow the flame just wouldn’t burn him, it would just warm him up and provide light. Seungcheol was the only good thing in his life so far.

Silence settled for a short while, the entire Joshua topic being dropped just like Jeonghan’s phone. Seungcheol was resting his hand against Jeonghan’s cheek, smiling as the other was simply leaning into his touch. “You are so beautiful, Jeonghan.” The words left him in a whisper and for once Jeonghan didn’t feel bothered by the compliment. Seungcheol kept caressing the skin with slow brushes of his thumb.

He liked the way Seungcheol looked at him right there and then. It was entirely different from all the looks he had got throughout his life. It made him feel safe, like everything about the other, and it made him feel loved to some extent. It was nice, everything he wanted. It didn’t take long before Jeonghan pressed closer in order to have his lips on Seungcheol’s and it felt a lot better now that his head wasn’t clouded by alcohol.

Seungcheol dropped his hand from Jeonghan’s face, opting to wrap his arms around the other’s middle, fingertips slowly caressing the skin on Jeonghan’s sides. He couldn’t kept himself from grinning once he felt Jeonghan’s warm, smooth, skin get covered in slight goosebumps at his touch. Jeonghan was so sensitive.

He tipped his head, recapturing Jeonghan’s lips with his own in a lingering kiss before shifting them together once he started feeling Jeonghan writher on top of him. It was almost adorable the way the other soon got impatient. Jeonghan soon diverged from his lips to start pressing small kisses onto his jaw, trailing them lower onto his collarbones. Seungcheol could only let his fingers tangle in his hair as he felt the kisses and occasional small nibbles descend the expanse of his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, weird chapter...  
> i am very sorry for taking so long to update this but lately been getting caught up by some issues and my will to write (alongside my ideas) have been like zero...  
> anyway i hope you guys liked it and i've been loving the reviews btw


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